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Investing.com -- Lasertec reported first-quarter fiscal year 2026 results that significantly exceeded market expectations, with sales reaching ¥54.1 billion, up 47% year-over-year, and operating profit of ¥26.7 billion, up 68%.
The company’s quarterly performance shows healthy progress toward its full-year guidance of ¥200.0 billion in sales and ¥85.0 billion in operating profit. Market estimates had projected sales of ¥45.0 billion and operating profit of ¥19.4 billion for the quarter.
Breaking down the sales figures, semiconductor-related equipment generated ¥41.7 billion, representing a 62% increase year-over-year, while services contributed ¥12.2 billion, up 23%. The company’s gross margin improved to 60.6%, a 2.2 percentage point increase from the same period last year.
During a briefing, President Sendoda discussed the current business environment, noting that multiple customers plan to begin volume production on 2nm nodes during 2025. Development of next-generation processes using high NA technology is also progressing. The company announced the A200HiT series, a new ACTIS product that significantly improves throughput for wafer fabs compared to the existing A150 model.
Regarding order trends, Lasertec indicated that its outlook remains largely unchanged from the beginning of the period. The company expects orders to continue at roughly the current level throughout 2025 before recovering in 2026. Projects anticipated for 2026 have become more concrete than previously reported.
The company noted that mask shop-related business has exhausted initial-phase demand, with an increase in fab demand expected during 2026. Lasertec plans to clarify its approach to the fab segment with the launch of a new product and intends to provide quantitative targets for fiscal year 2026 orders at the second-quarter mark.
Despite the strong quarterly results, Lasertec maintained its full-year guidance, projecting sales of ¥200 billion, a 20% decrease year-over-year, and operating profit of ¥85 billion, down 30%. The company attributes this outlook to declining orders backlog and fiscal year 2025 order trends.
Jefferies has raised its price target for Lasertec from ¥21,000 to ¥26,000 while changing its rating to Hold. The investment firm noted that Lasertec’s share price has risen alongside the entire semiconductor production equipment sector since September, reflecting anticipated recovery in semiconductor market conditions. Jefferies believes government funding and investments from NVIDIA and others to Lasertec’s main customer Intel are also boosting the company’s share price.
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